


#2: Gunshots

by Winchester_Writer



Series: 10 Times Tony Stark Saved Peter Parker and 2 Times He Couldn't [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Small descriptions of death and gunshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 09:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20132851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_Writer/pseuds/Winchester_Writer
Summary: Peter loses a civilian while on patrol, it reminds him of losing someone else in his life.





	#2: Gunshots

It was a Saturday night and Peter was out patrolling the lower area of Queens. It was 1 in the morning and normally May would kill him if he was out that late, but May was currently at a hospital workshop. It was over the weekend and she would be back sometime Monday afternoon, so Peter was out patrolling until ungodly hours of the night. Nothing major had happened tonight and he was slightly thankful for that, because to be honest, Peter was tired. It was finals week and he was dead tired, studying constantly without taking a break to sleep or even to eat. Finals and patrolling every night just didn’t work together and between the two of them, Peter was running on empty. 

He was sitting on a rooftop, legs dangling off the side, kicking around like a toddler’s would. Peter was talking to Karen at this point, trying to stay awake. 

“Karen, how do I impress MJ?”

“Just be yourself, Peter.”

“As Ned once said, nobody wants that.”

“If MJ really likes you, then she should like you for you.”

“But if she doesn’t, then how do I impress her?”

Karen was about to answer, but was interrupted by a loud bang in the alley below. Peter was immediately on his feet, looking down at the alley below him. 

“Crap,” he thought as he watched the sight below him unfold. 

There were three guys in masks, mugging a guy who had his back up against a dumpster. That must have been where the bang came from. Peter pulled down his mask and decided it was time to intervene. He jumped down to a windowsill and then flipped down into the alleyway behind the muggers. 

“Hey guys.”

The three muggers turned around and looked at him. 

“Oh crap, it’s Spiderman.” 

That was the kind of reaction that Peter got a kick out of. The three muggers started charging him and Peter jumped into action. Two of them attacked and he kicked at one, then used his webs to take down a second mugger. He continued to fight the three and had almost all of them on the ground, that’s when Karen intervened.

“Peter, something is wrong. You should vacate the premise now.”

“Karen, I’m fine. It’s just three muggers, I’ve handled worse than that before.” 

“Peter, I highly recommend leaving.” 

Peter ignored Karen and continued fighting the muggers, he had all three of them webbed up against a wall and he was about to celebrate. 

“Peter, leave now!” Karen yelled at him. 

Peter looked around and before he could comprehend what was happening, at least twenty Hydra agents were surrounding him. 

“Crap!” he thought to himself. 

Peter began to web as many of them up as possible, fighting each agent that came barreling at him. He was being thrown around like a rag-doll, not used to fighting this many people at once. Peter was holding his ground pretty well, despite being so outnumbered. The Hydra agents had closed in on him and his only option was to flee. Karen lined up a way for him to get out and he shot webs up at the building. Peter quickly scaled the webs, climbing out of the circle of Hydra agents. He got about halfway up before a loud noise and then pain like fire shot through his side. 

“No, no, no!” he thought to himself. 

Peter had just been shot, he was sure of it. He kept climbing, ignoring the bursting pain in his side. That’s when he remembered the civilian, the one who was being mugged, he was still down there in the middle of the fight. Peter made his decision within a second, he wouldn’t leave a civilian behind, not ever. He dropped back down, continuing the fight, barely keeping up with everything. He webbed up at least half of the agents, before he started to get light-headed, the bullet-wound and blood loss were finally getting to him. He looked around for the civilian and finally spotted him. He webbed him up and dragged him out of the fight, basically throwing him into the street. 

“RUN!” Peter yelled at the man. 

He took off running and Peter followed suit, as the civilian was running, the Hydra agents caught sight of him and shot, the man dropping in the middle of the sidewalk. Peter ran over to him as he dropped, grabbing onto him. He held him up and watched in horror as the man took his last breath, falling into Peter. The Hydra agents were running towards him now and Peter realized he had to leave. He shot a web up at the building and swung up, landing on the roof and then running furiously. 

“I would recommend getting to Stark Tower, Peter.” 

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.”

“Would you like me to phone ahead?”

“No, no. I’m fine Karen, I’m fine. Just get me to the Tower.”

“Very well, Peter.”

Karen rerouted him and sent Peter on his way to Stark Tower. He was stumbling across rooftops, barely able to swing from building to building. 

Tony was in his lab late, working on a new modification for one of his suits. All of the sudden he got an emergency alert from Karen. 

“Peter is headed to the Tower, estimated arrival time, two minutes.”

“What’s wrong, Karen?”

“Peter has sustained minor injuries in a street fight.”

Tony cursed under his breath and then wiped off his hands. Two minutes later, Peter came stumbling into the lab. Nothing could have ever prepared Tony for the sight before him. Peter’s mask was off, his hair sweaty and matted to his pale face, and tears forming in his eyes. Tony looked down and saw what Karen had called a “minor injury.” On his side, was a bullet wound, blood gushing from it, and a rip in his Spider-suit. Peter stumbled towards Tony and fell into his arms. 

“Mister Stark.”

“You’re okay, Peter, I’ve got you. What happened?”

“Muggers, then turned out to be Hydra. Too many of them. Was trying to save a civilian, got shot.”

“Okay, Pete, it’s okay. I need you to calm down. I’m calling the med-bay right now.”

“Already done, Sir,” Karen interrupted. 

“Perfect. See, Underoos? You’ll be okay.”

“He died, Mr. Stark, he died,” Peter sobbed into him. 

“Who, Pete? Who died?” 

“The civilian, he got shot. He was running and got shot. Because of me, he got shot. He’s dead.”

“No, Peter. Not because of you.”

“Yes because of me. Just like,” Peter began to pale, falling even more, he was about to pass out, “just like Ben.” 

Peter passed out before Tony got a chance to ask him anything else. The medics showed up just a little while later, grabbing Peter and putting him on a stretcher. Tony waited outside of the med-bay for hours, nurses periodically updating him on Peter’s situation. He was rushed into emergency surgery to remove the bullet and fix any internal damage. Luckily, nothing was too badly hit and it was going to be a simple fix. About 5 hours later, Tony was let into Peter’s recovery room to see him. Peter was still out like a light and Tony smiled at him. Once again, Tony was reminded of how young Peter truly was. He was curled up on a hospital bed, curly hair ruffled and messy, cheeks flushed with tears and redness. Tony sat down and sighed. 

“I’m sorry, kid. I never should have dragged you into this life.” 

Tony’s guilt was eating at him and he couldn’t help but blame himself for the pain that Peter was now in. 

“You’re so young. You should be worrying about what to wear tomorrow and how to ask a girl out to the school dance, not this. I’m sorry, Pete.” 

Peter stirred slightly, his eyes opening slowly. 

“M’ster St’rk.”

“Hey Pete, how you feeling, bud?”

“Good,” he laughed.

“Gosh kid, how many pain meds did they give you?”

“All of them.” 

Tony laughed at that and then smiled at Pete. 

“Go back to sleep, Underoos. I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise.”

“Okay M’ster Stark.”

Peter rolled over slightly and fell back asleep, Tony smiling at him as he did so. Just as promised, Tony was still sitting there when Peter woke up fully. He sat up slightly and then winced, Tony immediately woke up from his own slumber and looked towards Peter. 

“Underoos?”

“Mr. Stark, he’s gone, he’s gone Mr. Stark.” 

The kid was panicking now, Tony didn’t know what he was panicking about, but he knew he needed to calm Peter down or it would aggravate the injury.

“Kid, you’re okay. I promise, you’re okay.”

“He’s gone Mr. Stark.”

“Who’s gone, Pete?”

“Ben, Uncle Ben. He’s dead.”

That’s when it all clicked into place. Uncle Ben was the man who took care of Peter after his parents died. May had told him that he passed away, but had never explained how.

“It’s alright, Pete. I know he’s gone, but it’s okay. I’m here.”

“It was my fault Mr. Stark, my fault.”

Peter was barely breathing now, air coming in short gasps. 

“Peter, whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault. Now, listen to me, I need you to breathe.”

Peter still wasn’t breathing. 

“Pete, I don’t know what happened with your Uncle, but I do know what it’s like to lose someone, to not be able to save them. I’ll tell you, but I need you to breathe while I do. In and out, just like we practiced.”

“Yes, M’ster Stark.” 

“Good job, kid. I haven’t talked to many people about Yinsen, but I’ll tell you. When I was in that cave I didn’t make the first Iron Man suit by myself. I had a friend, Yinsen, he was a doctor who saved my life. He put in my first arc reactor to make sure the shrapnel didn’t reach my heart. Then the two of us got to work on the Iron Man suit. By the time we finished, Yinsen became, well he became like family to me. We put the suit to use and were getting out, but Yinsen, he didn’t make it, kid. He died, right there in my arms.”

Peter’s breathing had slowly leveled and he was listening to Tony intently. 

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark.”

“It’s alright, Pete. But I blamed myself for his death for a long time, I still do every once in a while. I realized something, though. He didn’t die in vain. He helped me create Iron Man and Iron Man has saved so many people. Yinsen has saved so many people and he doesn’t even know it. But like I said, his death was not in vain.”

Peter nodded and then took a very shaky breath. 

“My Uncle Ben was shot. I was running out of a shop and Uncle Ben followed me. A robber had followed us and Uncle Ben grabbed him, so he couldn’t get to me. The guy shot him, before I could even realize what was happening. It was my fault.”

“No, kid, it really wasn’t. I know you were there and I know you think you could have stopped it, but you couldn’t have saved him. Can I tell you something, Pete?”

“Course, Mister Stark.”

“This is gonna hurt, but it’s true, it’s something I’ve learned while doing this job. Kid, you can’t save everyone, no matter how hard you try. Some people, they just can’t be saved. You try as hard as you can, you try to save everyone, but sometimes, it just can’t happen. I know Ben meant the world to you and that’s gotta hurt. I’m not saying that you should ignore his death or feel nothing over it. But you shouldn’t feel guilty about it. You can’t save everyone.”

“But I could have saved him!”

“Underoos, I have a question for you. Do you think Ben would want you to feel like this? If he loved you so much that he would sacrifice himself for you, do you think he would want you to look back on his death with guilt and anger. Frankly, I think that’s a little insulting to his legacy.”

Peter looked taken aback by that. Tears started to roll down his cheeks and Tony immediately jumped into action. He grabbed his hand and looked up at him.

“It’s okay Pete, you’re okay, I promise.”

“You’re right, Mister Stark, you’re right.”

“It’s not your fault, kid, it’s not.”

Peter cried for a while after that and Tony let him. He simply held his hand or rubbed his

back and let Peter cry. Finally, Peter calmed down and looked up at Tony.

“I want you to do one last thing for me, kid.”

“Okay.”

“I want you to say it wasn’t your fault.”

“But Mister Stark,”

“No buts, Pete,” Tony interrupted, “I think Ben would have wanted this, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.”

Peter took a deep breath and then spoke quietly, “Uncle Ben didn’t die because of me.”

“Good job kid, good job. I’ll remind you of that for as long as you need me to.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark, for everything. For saving me, again.”

“No need to thank me, Pete. Looking after you, making sure you stay out of trouble, and saving you ever once in a while, that’s my job. Gotta make sure you don’t do anything stupid, Underoos.”

Peter smiled at Tony and laid back down, knowing he was safe with Mr. Stark watching over him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. This is my first ever fic, so comments and feedback would be very, very appreciated.


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